"Paint Work" (often written as "Paintwork") is a 1985 song by the English post-punk band The Fall which first appeared on their album This Nation's Saving Grace. Widely considered the high-point of the album, the track was described in 2019 as "absolutely sublime" by Vulture,Berman, Stuart. "Hey, Student! It’s a Beginner’s Guide to the Fall". Vulture, 3 January 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2022Dora John. "Messing Up The Paintwork: This Nation’s Saving Grace Revisited". The Quietus, 24 January 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2022 and as a piece of psychedelic music in 2011 by critic Mick Middles.Middles, Mick. "The Fall: This Nation's Saving Grace Omnibus Edition – review". The Quietus, 26 January 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2022
Music The song features psychedelic stylings as well as tape collaging techniques, the latter of which were partially accidental. Smith's stream of consciousness lyrics reply on the refrain "hey Mark", while Karl Burns' drums alternate between drum machine cymbal crashes and live drumming, and Craig Scanlon's meandering lead guitar lines.Pilley, Max. "The Fangasm: The Fall ". Drowned in Sound, 26 January 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2022 Credited to both Smith and Brix, it blends studio takes of the song with sections recorded on a four track in Simon Rogers' flat, and audio from Smith's dictaphone, often switching abruptly. During the mixing, Smith took the master tape home and accidentally erased part of the track with a snippet from a documentary he was listening to from an Open University lecture by the astronomer Alan Cooper titled "How do red giants make Carbon?"."Module S256: How do red giants make carbon?". Open University Digital Archive. Retrieved 6 May 2022Ford (2002), p. 147 According to Smith, he was "watching telly and singing along to the song after I'd played it, while [his home tape machine] was recording."Pouncey, Edwin. Sounds, 28 September 1985 The sudden jump between studio recordings and sudden inserts of home-taped passages fits the mood of the track, and he and Leckie decided to orient the final version of the song around this technique.Simpson, Dave. "The Fall: This Nation's Saving Grace Omnibus Edition – review". The Guardian, 15 December 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2022 Smith said "It fits in really good, you can't contrive something like that."
Lyrics According to Brix, both "Paint Work" and the TNSG album track "My New House" were both written about the house in Sedgley Park she had just bought with Mark. According to Brix "Hey Mark, you're messing up the paintwork" is something the decorator said.Start Smith (2017), 1985−1986 Smith said in a 1986 interview that the song lyrics contains "personal jottings and bits, but there's a lot there about England compared to Europe; how if you're not some flag-waving moron you don't fit in. This wasn't what England was about - it was about individuals. And that's what Paintwork was saying."Haslam, Dave. City Life, 18 July 1986
Personnel The FallIrvin (2017), p. 495 Mark E. Smith – vocals Brix Smith – guitar Steve Hanley – bass guitar Craig Scanlon – guitar Karl Burns – drums Simon Rogers – keyboards Technical John Leckie – production, engineering Joe Gillingham – engineering
References
Sources
Edge, Brian. Paintwork: Portrait of The Fall. London: Omnibus Press, 1989. Ford, Simon. Hip Priest: The Story of Mark E.Smith and the Fall. London: Quartet Books, 2002. Hanley, Steve. The Big Midweek: Life Inside The Fall. London: Route, 2014. Irvin, Jim (ed). The Mojo Collection: 4th Edition. London: Canongate Books, 2017. Norton, Tessa; Stanley, Bob. Excavate!: The Wonderful and Frightening World of The Fall . London: Faber & Faber, 2021. Pringle, Steve. You Must Get Them All: The Fall On Record. London: Route Publishing, 2022. Smith, Brix. The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise. London: Faber & Faber, 2017.